Chinese people are getting fatter? Reminder: life expectancy is related to weight or weight, after the age of 60 such a weight is better

The daughter and son-in-law went back to their natal home together. At the dinner table, Aunt Wang's family enjoyed themselves, talking and laughing.

The daughter watched her son-in-law add the third bowl of rice, and couldn't help complaining, "I told him to eat less, but he didn't want to. Look how big his stomach is. He has gained more than ten years of weight in just a few years of marriage. catty."

Aunt Wang said with a smile: "It's rare to come back, why not eat more, it means you are in good health."

"That's not necessarily true!" said the daughter, "Actually, people who eat less will live longer. Look at Dad, he's over 60 this year, and he's not fat at all. That's healthy."

Aunt Wang waved her hand, "I just think he's skinny, even thinner than me. He always says, "You get thinner when you get old, and you get thinner when you get old." I think that's not good for him."

Dad was not happy when he heard it, "You don't understand. Many studies have said that being too fat is prone to a lot of problems."

Aunt Wang stopped talking now, is it really better to be thinner? Does longevity have anything to do with body weight? After the age of 60, what is the best weight?

1. Eat a little less every time, and save your health from your mouth

In January of this year, eClinicalMedicine (Clinical Medicine), a sub-journal of The Lancet Discovery Science, published a research paper on the effects of dietary calorie restriction on the metabolic health of non-obese adults .

The study included 218 participants, aged 21-50, of normal weight (BMI 22.0-27.9, not obese), and in good health. The study found that after 12 and 24 months of restricting the researchers' dietary calories to 12 percent, participants experienced improvements in weight loss, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes risk.

In addition, the researchers assessed the participants' lipoproteins, metabolites, and markers of inflammation by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). It was found that novel molecular biomarkers such as pro-atherogenic apolipoprotein ApoB, composite inflammatory marker GlycA, lipoprotein-insulin resistance index LP-IR and diabetes risk index DRI were all reduced. What's more, the improvement was more pronounced in overweight than in normal-weight individuals, and more pronounced in men than in women.

This research may mean that ordinary people can improve their health by adjusting their diet, restricting their calorie intake, and keeping their mouth shut.

2. In the past 10 years, how much have the Chinese gained weight?

In July 2021, the Lancet-Regional Health (Western Pacific), a sub-journal of The Lancet, published an epidemiological survey in China completed by a research team from the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University . This study more accurately and comprehensively reflects the changes in obesity among Chinese adults in the past 10 years.

The study included 45,956 and 72,824 individuals over the age of 20, who had lived locally for at least 5 years and were not pregnant, from two national surveys in 2007 and 2017, respectively.

It was found that during the 10 years from 2007 to 2017, Chinese people became fatter and fatter . And except for the people over 70 years old, regardless of gender group or age group, the waist circumference has increased significantly, with an average of about 2.5 cm.

The overall obesity rate of Chinese people increased from 31.9% to 37.2% (overall obesity definition: BMI ≥ 25)

·Central obesity rate increased from 25.9% to 35.4%; (Central obesity definition: waist circumference ≥ 90 cm for men, waist circumference ≥ 80 cm for women))

• In the general population, no overweight rates were observed. (Definition of overweight: 23≤body mass index (BMI)<25)

If you don't pay attention to your weight every day, many diseases will come to your door.

Obesity is one of the carcinogenic factors. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has pointed out that excess body fat is closely related to 13 types of cancer, including gastric cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, thyroid cancer, uterine cancer, and ovarian cancer .

In addition, obesity is also associated with various diseases, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, fatty liver, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cognitive dysfunction and so on. Therefore, it is important to practice weight management, especially in older adults.

3. After the age of 60, this weight is the best

In addition to the problem of obesity in the elderly, there are also people who pursue "old age and thinness", thinking that it is healthier for the elderly to be thinner, but in fact, "old age and thinness" also has health risks.

If the elderly are too thin, malnutrition will affect the body's resistance, prone to symptoms such as fatigue and chills, and increase the risk of illness, such as respiratory diseases, skin diseases, and digestive tract diseases. And being underweight can increase the incidence of osteoporosis and sarcopenia.

It can be seen that being underweight or overweight is bad. After the age of 60, what is the best weight to maintain?

A foreign study that observed the relationship between life expectancy and weight after 70 years of follow-up found that long-lived people are generally neither fat nor thin, and even a little fat.

Generally speaking, a body mass index between 18.5 and 24 is a standard weight, less than 18.4 is underweight, greater than 24 is overweight, and greater than 28 is obese.

Gu Weijun, Chief Physician of the Department of Endocrinology at the First Medical Center of the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army , believes that for the elderly, it is recommended that the body mass index can be in the range of 20-24, and a little fatter. Body mass index = weight (kg) ÷ the square of height (m), taking an elderly person with a height of 1.6 meters as an example, the best weight should be kept at 51.2-61.44 kg.

4. Drink 2 more water and eat less food to improve your life span

If you want to live a long and healthy life, you need to pay more attention to your diet. You can drink 2 more types of water and eat less of 3 types of food, which is good for your health.

Two water:

The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016)" advocates drinking boiled water and tea . Studies in the "Chinese Journal of Gerontology" have pointed out that drinking tea is beneficial for adjusting the metabolism of the elderly, reducing the risk of high blood pressure and improving dyslipidemia. But there are a few points to note:

· Do not drink strong tea, but mainly light tea in daily life;

· Drink in moderation, about 10g of tea a day.

·It is best in the morning, try to avoid drinking tea in the afternoon or close to the evening, so as not to cause excitement, polyuria, sleep, etc. and affect sleep quality.

In addition, most elderly people are unresponsive to thirst, and often drink water only when they are thirsty.Take the initiative to drink water, and a small amount of time . Among them, it is best to choose warm boiled water. It is recommended that the elderly should drink no less than 1200 ml of warm boiled water (about 5 glasses of water) every day.

·Three things:

Pickled food: Although pickled food has a unique flavor, it contains more salt, and may produce nitrosamines and pathogenic bacteria that are harmful to human health. Eating it can cause high blood pressure, high uric acid, gastric cancer, etc. risk of problems. Therefore, it is recommended that the elderly should eat less pickled foods, such as sausages, salted fish, pickles, etc.

Fried food: Fried food has high calories and is a high-fat food, which can easily increase the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, high blood fat and diabetes. In addition, during the high-temperature frying process, the carcinogen acrylamide may be produced, which is harmful to health.

Moldy food: Moldy food may contain a large amount of aflatoxin, which can lead to food poisoning in mild cases and cancer in severe cases. Therefore, once you find that the food is moldy, don't eat it, even if you cut off the moldy part, it may be toxic and carcinogenic.

In addition, a study published in "PLoS Medicine" pointed out that changing eating habits and eating a healthy diet may prolong life. And the earlier a healthy diet is implemented, the more benefits will be gained. Even if you start to change to a healthy diet pattern at the age of 60, the life expectancy of women can be increased by about 8 years, and the life expectancy of men can be increased by about 8.8 years.

A healthy diet was defined in the study as increasing intake of vegetables, fruits, fish, whole grains, nuts, and legumes, and reducing intake of red meat, processed meat, refined grains, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

Whether it is too fat or too thin, the impact on the elderly is not good. Therefore, it is recommended that the elderly must maintain their figure, combine diet and exercise, and control the body mass index at a little bit above 20-24. Usually, they should pay attention to a balanced diet and a variety of foods. Eat red meat, fried, preserved and processed foods.

References:

[1] Eat a little less every time, because life is saved from the mouth! .Health Times, 2022-03-18

[2] "The Lancet" sub-journal: How much have Chinese people's weight and blood pressure increased in the past 10 years? Young people beware! .China Medical Tribune, 2022-01-16

[3] Changing eating habits may prolong life expectancy by 10 years, and there is still time to start again at the age of 60! . Nutritionist Gu Zhongyi, 2022-03-07

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